Football: Jon Embree names Jordan Webb CU Buffs' starting quarterback

Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn, who led the realignment charge west from the Big 12 to the Pac-12, is a Kansas graduate.

Wildly popular CU head basketball coach Tad Boyle played for the Jayhawks.

And now Jon Embree has tabbed former KU quarterback Jordan Webb to lead the football program in the Buffs' 2012 quest for a bowl game.

Rock, chalk ... CU.

"I'm not into playing games, sitting around waiting. I think it's fair to the players and the team that when we knew, we let them know," Embree said after Wednesday's practice of his decision to officially name Webb as CU's starter before the first scrimmage of fall camp. "I felt really good about it last night, slept on it, and decided to let it go out today."

Playing games is actually what helped give Webb the advantage over Texas transfer Connor Wood, who took all of the first-team reps during spring drills, and redshirt sophomore Nick Hirschman, who served as Tyler Hansen's backup in 2011.

Webb, who has two years of eligibility remaining and is allowed to play immediately because he has already graduated from KU, saw action in 19 games for the Jayhawks.

In 12 starts last season, Webb completed 179 of 281 pass attempts (63.7 percent) for 1,884 yards with 13 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. After a 2-0 start, KU lost its final 10 games of the season, which resulted in the firing of Turner Gill just two years into his rebuilding job.

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Webb didn't fit into Charlie Weis' plans for the program and transferred to CU in July. A month later he has ascended to the top of the depth chart.

"I am surprised. I guess the coaches just felt it was the right time," Webb said. "Definitely not going to argue with it."

So are the Buffs better equipped to win in Embree's second season as head coach than KU was a year ago?

"We went into last season in Kansas thinking we were going to be a pretty good team. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way," Webb said. "We feel the same way here. I see a lot of talent out there. The biggest thing as far as the offense out there is we have an experienced offensive line."

Embree said he knew Webb was a "smart kid" during his visit to CU last spring. The coach's son, Connor Embree, a sophomore wide receiver at KU, also gave his dad a positive review of the new quarterback on Boulder's campus.

"He's a gym rat as far as football," Embree said. "I expected him to have a great opportunity to compete for it and that he'd pick up the system."

Webb, generously listed at 6-foot-1 on CU's roster, proved during the first 10 days of fall camp that size doesn't have to matter at quarterback.

Wood (6-3, 225 pounds) and Hirschman (6-4, 230 pounds) will continue to battle for the No. 2 position before holding clipboards on Sept. 1 at Sports Authority Field when Webb leads the Buffs against Colorado State in Denver.

"I call him the Smurf," CU quarterbacks coach Rip Scherer said of Webb. "He's really about the same size as Tyler (Hansen) and the Drew Brees kind of thing. I'm not putting him in that league, but those guys find ways to find throwing lanes between windows, and they don't always have to be in shotgun to do that."

Embree met with all three of the QB candidates individually to break the news. Then he hinted at the decision to his Twitter followers by posting the following riddle:

"Buff fans do you like Sunflower Seeds? The Buffalo is the official animal of what state?"

That would be Kansas. Now a lot of those Buffaloes from the plains are roaming in Boulder.

Fans can only hope Webb enjoys as much success over the next two years as Bohn and Boyle have over the last two years.

"I think my competitiveness is one thing that is going to make me successful in any aspect of my life," Webb said. "I want to win, I want to be a leader, and I think that's the most valuable thing you can have as a quarterback."

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